House cooling system



Dec. 19, 1939. R. s. NELSON 2,133,321

HOUSE COOLING SYSTEM Filed Sept. 9, 1935 Patented Dec. 19; 1939 PATENT OFFICE 2,183,821 HOUSE COOLING SYSTEM Rudolph S. Nelson, North Canton,hio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application September 9, 1935, Serial No. 39,665

11 Claims.

This invention,relates to .air conditioning or house cooling systems, and more particularly to a jet Compression refrigerating system adapted for such use.

39 A jet compressor is a well known device for w plying liquid to the boiler where the vapor which supplies the jet is generated.

It is an object of the present invention to dispense with the pump commonly used for this purpose and to provide means for maintaining a column of liquid refrigerant of sufiicient height to enable the liquid to flow into the boiler under the influence of gravity. I

It is another object of the invention to provide a continuously operable jet compression refrigerating system in which water is employed not only for the purpose of evaporation to produce refrigeration but also as the driving fluid.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a house cooling system in which a boiler used for supplying steam to the jet may also be used for heating the house in the winter time. It is still another object of the invention to provide a refrigerating system for house cooling in which the heat-rejecting portion of the system such as the condenser is located on the roof of the house, arrangement being made for cooling this heat-rejecting element at the same time that the .roof of the house is cooled so as to reduce the load on the refrigerating system. Other objects and advantages reside in certain novel features of the arrangement and construction and will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which, I

The single figure is a diagrammatic illustrationof a house in vertical cross-section with a refrigerating system constructed in accordance with the present invention associated therewith. Referring to the drawing in detail it will be seen that a house is illustrated ashavingwalls III, a basement H, and a roof l2.

The refrigerating systemassociated with the house may consist of a boiler B, this element being located in the basement of the house, an

evaporator designated E which may be located in the attic, a condenser designated C which may be located on the roof of the house and a jet compressor designated J which may be located above the condenser, these elements of the system being 5 connected by various conduits and having auxiliary devices connected thereto to make up a complete jet compressor refrigerating system.

The boiler B may be used in the winter time for heating the house and may be of a construction normally used in dwelling houses in con- 5 nection with steam heating systems. For simplicity in illustration the radiators and connecting pipes of the heating system are not shown since their construction is well known and per se form no part of the present invention. 10

For adapting the boiler B for a refrigerating system a small vessel I3 is preferably located above the main portion of the boiler B and-is connected thereto by two conduits I 4 and I5.

A vertically extending conduit l6 is connected 15 between the vessel I3 and the compartment ll of the jet compressor. The vessel 13 insures the.

.passage of only steam to the conduit It.

The main body of the jet compressor J includes a Venturi compartment I 8 which is located in front of a nozzle l9. Steam generated in the boiler passes from the chamber I1 through the Venturi compartment and into the condenser C through the conduit 2|. The condenser C may be of a known construction. The one shown 25 consists of a cylindrical vessel having a number of tubes 22 extending longitudinally therethrough for the purpose of passing cooling water through thevessel to cool it. In the arrangement illustrated the horizontal pipes 22 are connected to headers 23 and 24 through which cooling water is circulated as will be explained hereinafter, while the steam or vapor coming from. the jet compressor J passes into the space around the pipes 22 where it is cooled'and condensed. The condensate leaves the condenser through the conduit 25 connected to the bottom thereof. The conduit 25 may extend from the attic of the house down into the basement where it is connected to the .boiler B as illustrated, a check valve 26 being positioned in the lower portion of this conduit. This check valve prevents backflow into the condenser when the boiler is first heated up.

The evaporator E may consist of a horizontally extending vessel as indicated. It is connected to a suitable point of the conduit 25 by means of a supply conduit 21 and with the jet compressor J by means of the vapor conduit 28.

The supply conduit 21 includes a regulating 50 valve 29 which is controlled through suitable. known mechanism such as the float 30 and control linkage 3|, so that liquid is supplied to the evaporator in response to the level of the liquid refrigerant therein. Above the control valve 29,

the conduit 21 may be provided with a spray arrangement this spray being located in the upper part of the evaporator as indicated at 32. The

vapor conduit 23 may be connected to the topof 5 the evaporator E andtdthe main chamber l8 of thejet compressor at a point near that where the nozzle l9 discharges, as illustrated.

In the arrangement illustrated the evaporator E, the jet compressor J and the condenser C opmerate in a known manner upon the passage of vapor into the chamber l1 and through the nozzle I9. As vapor is discharged from the nozzle 13 into the venturi l8 at a high velocity, it tends to creat a vacuum or lower the pressure in the 15 evaporator E and this causes the wateror other liquid used as refrigerant in the evaporator, to evaporate and produce a cooling effect,'the combined vapors from the nozzle l9 and the evaporator E passing into the right-hand portion of 2,0 the jet compressor. as illustrated in the drawing,

and from there into the condenser 0. Under the high pressure prevailing in the condenser, the vapor condenses and flows into the pipe from which it may flow from time to time back into 25 the evaporator E under the control of the control mechanism described above.

An important feature of the present invention results from the location of the condenser C at a point far above the boiler 13. In two-story dwelling houses, as normally constructed, the roof may be feet or more above the floor of the basement and if a column of water this high can .be'maintained, it is suiflcient to enable water or like fluid to flow into the boiler by ravityn 5 accordance with the present invention the vessels are so located that this height is utilized to maintain a column of liquid in the pipe 25 for' this purpose.

In a compressorrefrigerator of the type illustrated the pressure in the boiler B is higher than elsewhere in the system. The pressure there must be sumcient to force steam or vapor-through the jet IS with sumcient velocity to evacuate the evaporator to some extent and to maintain a 4,5 pressure in the condenser 0 higher than that in the evaporator. In accordance with the present invention the difference in pressure between the condenser C on the roof and the boiler B in the basement is maintained by the column of water in the pipe 25 connecting these two vessels.

A second advantage resulting from the location of the condenser on the roof of the house results from the fact that a cooling system for the condenser may then-also be used to cool the roof of the house to some extent and thus reduce the load placed upon the refrigerating system in maintaining the house at the proper temperature in the summertime. As mentioned above, cooling water is circulated through the condenser C.

69 The cooling water is supplied to header 23 from which it flows through the pipes 22 to the header 2. For supplying cooling water-to the header 23 a conduit 33 is connected thereto and to a cooling water supply tank 34. The conduit 33 5 includes a cooling water circulating pump of any known construction as illustrated at 35. By it, cooling water is pumped from the tank 34 through the pipe 33 and after flowing through the condenser to a spray device 36 located above 70 the condenser and connected to the header 24.

eaves troughs 31 from which it is returned into the cooling water tank 34 through the conduits 38. Known means (not shown) may be provided for maintaining water in sumcient quantityin the cooling water tank 34. With the arrangement illustrated the water for cooling the con-- denser is so circulated that the roof' takes, the

place of the usual spray pond and at the same time the roof is cooled to some extent.

For transferring heat from the house to the evaporator E an indirect cooling system may be provided, the arrangement shown in the drawing for this purpose consisting of a pipe 39- connected tothe lower part of the evaporator. and

to one. or more radiators or cooling coils, one of:

which is indicated at 40, these radiators in turn being connected to the evaporator through a conduit. Circulation of the \water froni the evaporator E through the cooling coils 40 and back to the evaporator may be caused by gravity as a result of the difference in temperatur e tween the water in the conduits 39 and ,jor a chilled water circulating pump 42 may beemployed.

Since jet compression refrigerating systems.- are in general well known it is unnecessary to describe the elements in further detail. It should perhaps be mentioned here, however, that a purgepump should preferably be connected to the con.- denser to remove air or other gases therefrom. This is particularlyadvantageous in starting the refrigerating system.

It is apparent from the above description that a very simple and fool proof refrigerating system has been provided. Only one fluid is used inthe system and this fluid may be water. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that if water is used as the working fluid in the system, less than atmospheric pressure should normally prevail in the evaporator and the whole system-may operate at a relatively low pressure. If other fluids are used instead of water, the pressures in the system will vary depending on the nature of the fluid used. While the system is primarily designed for use with water as refrigerant, other fluids may, of course, be used.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it isobvi-- ous that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a roof of a house of. a system for cooling air beneath the roof, said system having a heat rejecting element, means for causing cooling liquid to take heat from said heat rejecting element and means for circulating said cooling liquid in a cycle in contact withair. over said roof and in heat transfer relation with said element to transfer heat from said element to the atmosphere above said roof, the arrangement being such that some of the liquid may evaporate as it passes over the roof thereby cooling the roof as well as the remainder of the liquid.

2. In combination, a house, a boiler located in the lower part of said house, a condenser mounted on the upper part of said house and located considerable distance above the boiler, a liquidmeans for discharging the heat of condensation of refrigerant therein to the atmosphere, said means including cooling water connections to said ment for causing cooling water to flow in heat transfer relation with said' heat rejecting portion, then over the roof and again into heat transfer relation with said portion, whereby the water can evaporate from the roof to cool the I roof and then pass into heat transfer relation with said portion at a lowered temperature.

4. The process of cooling an enclosure comprising evaporating a liquid into a gaseous medium in heat exchange relation but out. of contact with the medium within the enclosure, condensing said vapor outside said enclosure by means of water, returning the condensate to the evaporating zone, distributing said condensing water over at least a portion of the outer surface of the enclosure to evaporate the same and thereby reduce the temperature gradient between the interior and exterior of'the enclosure, and returning the residue of the condensing water back to the condensing zone.

5. Air conditioning apparatus in combination with an enclosure having a roof and including an evaporator within the enclosure, a condenser overlying the roof, and means interconnecting the condenser and evaporator and soarranged that liquid evaporated in the evaporator is condensed in the condenser by water passing over the condenser and then over the roof and that the condensate may be returned to the evaporator and the evaporation taking place from the roof suffices to reduce the temperature gradient between the interior and exterior of the enclosure.

6. Air conditioning apparatus for a building having a roof comprising means for collecting and storing water falling on the roof, an evaporator in the building, a condenser on the roof, means conveying vapor evaporated in said evaporator to the condenser, means returning condensate from the condenser to the evaporator, and means for passing said water over both said condenser and said roof whereby the air within the building is cooled by said evaporator, whereby said vapor is condensed in the condenser, and whereby the heat transferredfrom the exterior to the interior of the building is reduced.

7. Apparatus for conditioning the air within anenclosure suitable for human occupancy comprising means for evaporating a liquid into a gaseous medium within an enclosure to cool the air therein, condenser means overlying the roof of said enclosure connected to said evaporating means, said condenser means including means for cooling the same conductively by passing a cool liquid therethrough, and evaporatively' by distributing said liquid over the exterior of the closure.

condenser whereby a part thereof is evaporated into the atmosphere, and means for returning the residue liquid which has also been cooled by the evaporation of a part thereof to the con densing means.

8. Apparatus for conditioning the air within an enclosure suitable for human occupancy comprising means for pumping heat from the interior to the exterior of the enclosure to cool the same, and means for rejecting the heat pumped to the exterior to the atmosphere, said last mentioned means including a condenser overlying the roof of said enclosure, a liquid storage tank within the enclosure, means for cooling said condenser conductively by passing said cooled liquid through the condenser, and for cooling the condenser evaporatively by passing at least a part of the liquid over the exterior of the condenser whereby some of the liquid evaporates into the atmosphere, and means for returning the residue liquid not evaporated but which has also been cooled by evaporation to the storage tank, said last named means also serving to collect precipitation from the atmosphere and conveying the same to said storage tank to replenish water evaporated therefrom. I

9. Apparatus for conditioning the air in an enclosure having a roof comprising means for collecting and storing liquid precipitation from the atmosphere, means for pumping heat from within the enclosure and discharging it to the outside atmosphere including a condenser overlying said roof, means for circulating said liquid into heat exchange relation with said condenser to absorb heat therefrom, and then in a thin film over said roof whereby said water is cooled by evaporative cooling and the temperature gradient through said roof is decreased, and means for returning the residue cooled water to said storage means.

10. Apparatus for conditioning the air in an enclosure having a roof comprising means for collecting and storing liquid precipitation from the atmosphere, means for pumping heat from within the enclosure'and dishargingit to the outside atmosphere including a condenser overlying said roof, means for spraying the liquid;

into the air over saidcondenser whereby part of the water evaporates and cools the remainder so that heat is absorbed from said condenser and from the air' overlying the roof, and means for returning the residue cool water to said storage means.

,11. That method of conditioning an enclosure having a roof which includes distributing water over the roof to absorb radiant solar energy and to facilitate evaporation of a part thereof into the atmosphere to cause cooling of the residue, collecting said residue and passing it in heat exchange relation with a gaseous medium which has been saturated by evaporation of a liquid' thereinto within the enclosure whereby said vapor iscondensed, and returning the condensate to the evaporation zone within the en- RUDOLPH s. NELSON. 

